Distribution (2)
Although Napoleon tried his best, anything within Joseph's jurisdiction—well, that guy was a tyrant who never listened to reasonable opinions—was a challenge. In short, Napoleon tried to persuade his older brother, but failed, and then, looking sullen, he left Joseph's office.
However, as soon as he stepped outside, Napoleon's displeasure vanished. He boarded his carriage with a broad smile and returned to his Tuileries Palace, which had now become the Consulate.
Napoleon returned to the Consulate and sat down in his office. His secretary, Nino, said to him, "Your Excellency, Mr. Laplace has been waiting for you for some time."
"Ah, please let him in," Napoleon said.
Nino then turned and left. A short while later, Laplace, the principal of the École École Normale Supérieure and vice president of the French Academy of Sciences, followed Nino in.
"Ah, Mr. Laplace, please have a seat." Napoleon stood up and said as he saw Laplace enter.
"Thank you, thank you." Laplace sat down on the chair next to him, looking at Napoleon as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
Napoleon, of course, understood Laplace's meaning, so he took a sip of water and said, "Mr. Laplace, I just came from my elder brother Joseph —that stubborn fellow. Yes, it's about the Prometheus Prize. That fellow is a stubborn fellow, and extremely protective of his own, well, you've dealt with him quite a bit, so you must know that."
Laplace craned his neck to listen, but remained silent. He knew that Napoleon and his elder brother actually had a good relationship. Although Napoleon was putting all sorts of accusations on Joseph, Napoleon was capable of such things, and it was best for others not to get involved.
"I argued with him all day. He insisted that the first mathematics prize must be awarded to his assistant Gauss. You know, this guy is incredibly stubborn and protective. So I slammed my fist on the table and berated him for abusing his power, and then he slammed his fist on the table and berated me... Finally, he agreed to make some concessions. He promised to reserve one spot for the École Normale Supérieure next year and the year after."
"One spot will be reserved for the École Normale Supérieure next year and the year after? The École Normale Supérieure will also get a spot next year?" Laplace was taken aback.
Frankly, when Laplace encouraged Napoleon to compete with Joseph for the spot, he didn't have high hopes. Indeed, Joseph usually presented himself as a moral exemplar, perfectly fitting the common image of a great scientist who was single-mindedly devoted to science and indifferent to fame and fortune. But Laplace knew that great scientists weren't necessarily moral exemplars. Take, for example, Lavoisier, the honorary president of the French Academy of Sciences and the honorary rector of the University of Paris —when Lavoisier was his assistant, he was frequently subjected to salary deductions by Lavoisier various pretexts.
When it comes to reputation, great scientists are even more so... Take the famous Sir Newton, for example. He fought fiercely with Hooke over the discovery of universal gravitation. Even after Hooke's death, when Newton became the President of the Academy of Sciences of Britain, he still wouldn't let Hooke off the hook. He not only destroyed Hooke's laboratory but also smashed Hooke's only portrait, so that all the portraits of Hooke that survived afterward were just imaginations.
Joseph, on the other hand, feigns indifference to fame and fortune because he lacks neither. As for fortune, he's so wealthy he barely cares about the million-franc prize. Regarding fame, according to Laplace's observation, Joseph no longer values the reputation of a mathematician or scientist; Joseph now values the title of "educator." If you publicly praise Joseph's scientific achievements, Joseph 'll likely remain expressionless, nonchalantly stating that he's only made a minor contribution. But if you praise Joseph ability to nurture students, he'll immediately beam with joy, his eyes narrowing into slits and his mouth curving upwards to his ears. Although he'll still feign interest, saying, "It's mainly because I'm lucky; my students are all exceptionally bright, hahahaha..."
Sometimes Laplace even thought that Joseph and Napoleon were indeed brothers, both of them like to act like "it's nothing special" about what they were best at, but both liked to create a reputation for themselves that was somewhat off-track from their main goals. For example, Napoleon was determined to join the ranks of scientists, while Joseph was now single-mindedly focused on becoming an educator.
This is why Joseph was notoriously protective of his own. From the beginning, Laplace was worried that Joseph might abuse his power and claim all four prizes for his students and assistants. Of course, considering Lavoisier's status and their kinship, and given Joseph's obsession with the prize money, Joseph would likely reserve one chemistry prize for Lavoisier. As for the others, things could easily turn into "my students' prizes, my students' prizes, all my students' prizes." If it weren't for the fact that Joseph would certainly not agree, Laplace would have loved to ask, "Bonaparte Lavoisier, do you still need students?"
So when Napoleon told him that Joseph had agreed to allocate one place each year for the École Normale Supérieure, Laplace was overjoyed.
"Yes, next year, the physics and chemistry prizes will be awarded. Hmm, I reckon Mr. Lavoisier certainly won't let the chemistry prize slip by. Unless someone's willing to bribe him with two million francs." Napoleon was in a good mood and casually joked, "But for the physics prize, we can choose between you and Mr. Lagrange. Joseph thinks Mr. Lagrange is getting on in years, so we can give the prize to him first, to recognize his contributions to celestial mechanics..."
"But I've also made significant contributions to celestial mechanics," Laplace cried out in his heart, but he didn't dare say it aloud, fearing that the First Consul would think he was being unreasonable.
"As for you, Joseph thinks the mathematics prize should be awarded to you the year after next," Napoleon said. "Principal Laplace, I know that receiving one million francs a year earlier would generate considerable interest, even if you simply put it in the bank. So, placing it a year later does require a certain sacrifice from you. However, I will remember your sacrifice and will not let you have given it in vain."
Laplace, of course, wanted to receive the prize as soon as possible. This wasn't just about the year's interest; more importantly, the longer it dragged on, the more unforeseen circumstances arose. What if, after two years, one of Joseph's students suddenly made a groundbreaking discovery? Wouldn't that be a disaster? However, Laplace also knew that the person he could rely on most in this matter was Napoleon, and Napoleon's current results had already exceeded his initial expectations. Therefore, he couldn't appear too greedy. Laplace wasn't a particularly strong-willed person, so he replied:
"Dean Bonaparte's considerations are also reasonable."
After saying this, Laplace suddenly had this thought, "Ah, if I had known, perhaps Lagrange should have been the headmaster."
"Principal Laplace, you are indeed a person who can consider the big picture," Napoleon said with great pleasure.
After resolving the issue of distributing the grand prize, Napoleon resumed his work on what was now most important to him— the Olympic Games.
While Napoleon was busy preparing for the Olympic Games, in Rome, His Holiness the Pope was discussing with a group of cardinals and archbishops the matter of sending investigators to Austria.
"Directly accusing His Majesty Franz of a crime, even if we eventually exonerate him, would greatly damage our relations with Austria. Although we cannot disobey the France, after all, none of us want to leave Rome ..." His Holiness the Pope took a breath and continued, "But completely severing ties with Austria over this could still be very costly. Not long ago, one of our priests made a new suggestion. Hmm, Father Conti, why don't you share your thoughts with everyone?"
A young priest approached, bowed to everyone, and said, "Your Majesty, fellow bishops, we and His Majesty Franz of Austria both know who is behind this investigation, what they hope to achieve, and that we—neither the Holy See nor Vienna —can resist them. However, this charge is rather unpleasant to hear, so why don't we try a different approach?"
"How can we adapt?" a bishop asked.
"We could send an envoy to Vienna to investigate this matter. His Majesty Franz would then be furious, leading to a misunderstanding and conflict with our envoy. In his anger, Franz Majesty would then do something slightly excessive, humiliating our envoy, and we would use this as grounds to revoke Fritz Majesty's title of 'Emperor of the Rome'..."